Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Stock

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $24.50 to $28.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on KMT. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America cut shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.83.

Kennametal Stock Down 1.7 %

KMT stock opened at $24.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.60. Kennametal has a fifty-two week low of $22.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $481.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.26 million. Kennametal had a net margin of 4.98% and a return on equity of 8.35%. Kennametal’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total value of $51,802.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,642 shares in the company, valued at $48,192.70. The trade was a 51.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $578,072.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,767.44. This trade represents a 34.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kennametal

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Kennametal by 46.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Kennametal by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,270,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,903,000 after purchasing an additional 48,638 shares during the period. Azarias Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Kennametal by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 259,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,106,000 after purchasing an additional 67,139 shares in the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kennametal during the 2nd quarter valued at $900,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the second quarter valued at $90,000.

About Kennametal

Kennametal Inc engages in development and application of tungsten carbides, ceramics, and super-hard materials and solutions for use in metal cutting and extreme wear applications to enable customers work against corrosion and high temperatures conditions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Metal Cutting and Infrastructure.